University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Hosts USTA / UT Challenger Nov. 11-18
November 06, 2001 | Men's Tennis
Nov. 6, 2001
For the second straight year, the University of Tennessee will be hosting the $50,000 USTA/ UT Challenger Nov. 11-18 at the Varsity Tennis Center on the UT campus. This year's edition of the professional event will feature former French Open champion Michael Chang.
Chang, who is currently ranked No. 62 in the world, will be competing as the event's No. 1 seed. The New Jersey native has won 34 singles titles and $18,500,000 during his 14 year career. He has been ranked as high as No.2 in the world during his career.
Joining Chang at the event will be five of the world's top 100-ranked players. These players include No. 81 Nicolas Massu of Chile, No. 83 James Blake of the U.S., No. 92 Michael Russel of the U.S., No. 94 Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea and No. 95-ranked former Vol Chris Woodruff.
Woodruff played at Tennessee during the 1992-93 seasons, where he earned All-America honors and captured the NCAA singles title in 1993. Woodruff is one of seven former NCAA champions who will competing at the UT Challenger. Since leaving Knoxville, Woodruff has gained a high world ranking of No. 9 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 2000 and has captured two career singles titles.
The professional players will be joined at the event by four current Vol netters. Tennessee sophomores Wade Orr and Simon Rea and freshman Mark Dietrich will be entered into the event via the qualification rounds. Tennessee senior Mario Toledo, who is the country's No. 16-ranked collegiate player, will begin play in the main draw.
The tournament will begin Sunday with first round singles qualifying matches kicking off at 9 a.m., followed by a pro-am. The first round of the main draw in both singles and doubles will begin Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. The tournament final rounds will take place Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1 P.M.
Tickets for the event will be available by the day or for the entire event. An all-tournament pass will be $30 for adults and $20 for youths. Weekday individual passes will be $5 per person, while weekend tickets will be $7 per person.
Results of the tournament will be available on the tennis page at UTSports.com.
